Public Service and control NDIS

It feels to me that there's an abject failure of government to govern for the people. The post below highlights that in regard to the NDIS.

We've seen other examples such as robo debt and the abject failure of the government to provide affordable housing.  

Keeping refugees locked up for years and years simply for wanting a better life.

It may seem trivial but closure of rock climbing places ostensibly in the name of safety but represents a depowering of individuals and an imposition of power and control by the public service.

I believe that somehow we need to change the attitudes of public servants from one of imposing control to one of listening, caring and acting ethically with a light touch. We need elected leaders to lead this and set rules to foster these outcomes. (renaming watch houses as youth detention centres to get around court decisions and and bypassing their own bill of rights is hardly ethical leadership by the QLD state government for example).

Some of the naughty statements about the NO campaign - secret documents for example fall into this and the whole No campaign seeks to, in my view, stifle and continue to disempower an already marginalised group and reflects the attitude of we-know-best and we'll impose that on you that pervades government and public service at all levels.

From Peter Gregory:-

Today I joined members of my community to witness the ceremonial final sitting of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. This has been a harrowing experience for many who boldly told their stories of failure at the hands of a disability care and support sector that promised to reform their ableist practices and ensure that all citizens with disabilities had opportunities for social and economic participation and choice and control. The NDIS and those implementing this have failed dismally to honour this promise. The Commissioners outlined their reflections on the stories of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation they have heard. Theses are practices that the NDIS and the Quality and Safeguards Commission were supposed to stamp out. These are the segregationist, manipulative and controlling behaviours Service Providers promised to reform. My community of friends who rely on these services for their very existence have been betrayed and lied to and the Royal Commission made that abundantly clear today. In the past 24hours a dear friend of mine was told by an arrogant NDIS Planner, that they have not met or spoken to, that it would be best for them to move into a group home with other disabled people they don’t know because it would be good for their socialisation. Group homes have been of particular interest to the Royal Commission, because of the undeniable evidence that they are incubators for abuse, neglect and exploitation. Another friend of mine was contacted by an NDIS Planner attempting to coerce them into an agreement that would have compromised their application to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal where they are seeking to overturn a decision of the NDIS.

I truly hope that the Royal Commission recommends root and stem reform of this corrupted system that bears no resemblance to the NDIS we advocated for.

I am also accutely aware that this event comes at a time of vitriolic speaches, misinformation and outright lies intended to erase the intergenerational trauma of colonisation experienced by out first nations people. The deliberate actions of some to undermine the opportunity for indigenous people to be recognised in the constitution and to provide advice on matters that affect them exposes a deep vein of resistance, that runs through our society, to addressing the profound impact of centuries of violence and neglect our first peoples have been subjected to. The deliberate strategy of some in this conversation to sow hate and fear through misinformation is a strategy, if it is allowed to succeed, that will have ramifications way beyond the demise of “The Voice” and its impact on our first nations citizens. It will be applied to all sectors of our community who dare to seek equal rights and are seen to disrupt the social conventions created by the powerful colonisers. The Disability Royal Commission has already heard reports that there are some agitators saying that the pursuit of disability rights is "infecting" and interfering with the lives of non-disabled people. They have been told that there is pushback from some sectors about the inclusion of disabled people in mainstream community activities and opportunities. The “we do not want you here” mentality so prevalent in the institutional era of disability care and support.

The German theologian Martin Niemöller, said at the close of World War 2

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

These are potent words, and a warning, to be pondered on this day as we witness the closure of the Royal Commission and the leadup to the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.